Module Two - Te Ārahi Tika: Ethical Leadership and Decision-Making

TeTeTe Ārahi Tika: 

Ethical Leadership and Decision-Making

Section One - Exploring Ethical Frameworks

Notes about Reading 1: “Tu Rangatera”

Notes about Reading 2: “What is Ethical Leadership and Why is it Important?”

Definition of Ethical Leadership:

Involves making decisions based on what’s right for the common good, not just personal gain or that of one student.

Ethical leaders consider:

Customers/students

Employees

Communities

How to grow the kura and community

What Is a Good Leader?

What Happens with Bad Leaders?

When leaders make bad choices or behave unfairly, it can hurt the company and make people not want to work for them.

That’s why having good, kind, and fair leaders in charge is imperative.

Unethical behavior and poor judgment in leadership harm a school's brand and reputation.

Leaders must be ethical to ensure long-term business success.

What Makes a Leader Good?

A good leader does what’s right, even when it’s hard.

They care about everyone, not just about money.

They think about:

- The workers

- The customers

- The community

- The future of the school. 

Helping Others Be Good Too

- Good leaders set a good example.

- They make sure the workplace is:

- Safe

- Friendly

-A place where everyone feels heard

Why People Want Good Leaders

People like to work for kind and fair bosses.

Young people today care a lot about doing the right thing.

They don’t like leaders who are mean or unfair.

6 Important Rules for Good Leaders

1. Respect

- Treating everyone nicely.

- Saying “thank you” and listening to others.

- Respect goes both ways – everyone gives and gets it.

2. Taking Responsibility

Good leaders own up to their mistakes.

They don’t blame others when things go wrong.

3. Helping Others

Good leaders think about how they can help people.

They like to do things like volunteer or donate to those in need.

They also encourage their team to be kind and helpful.

4. Honesty

Always tell the truth.

Even if something is hard to say, good leaders are honest.

This makes people trust them.

5. Fairness

Treat everyone the same.

Good leaders don’t have favorites.

They make sure everyone has a fair chance.

6. Teamwork

Good leaders think of their company like a team or family.

Everyone works together.

They listen to everyone’s ideas and ensure no one is left out.

How do we make ethical choices when this happens in a Kura or community? How do we take the first step, and how do we stay safe during these times? 

When considering leadership and what is best for the whole, we need to ensure that we are fair and treat those fairly during this time. When dealing with situations like this, it is important to lean into vulnerability, honesty, and fairness. How can we rebuild when these situations arise and make the kura feel safe and cared for? It's about rebuilding the community's trust and that of the students, teachers, and BOT members. 

It's about the leader taking responsibility for the actions of the kura. If that doesn't happen then it creates distrust in the company/kura. This is the time to step up and take it on the chin, as you are the leader of the school and therefore the 'buck' stops with you, it's not the teachers or the students responsibility to own that, especially when you have made the decisions around something. 

It is important for those in leadership spaces to practice ethical decision making, again what is right for the whole, not just one person. It's creates a culture of positivity, trust and honesty. When looking at weather. you are practicing ethical decisions, you need to look at the turn over of staff/students and how can can we create these and move to leaning into ethical leadership. 

Task - Ethical Dilemma Analysis

Step 1: Identify an ethical dilemma relevant to your role as an Associate/Deputy Principal at your kura.

Step 2: Apply what you have learned from the resources in this module, considering different perspectives, potential consequences, and relevant ethical principles.

Step 3: Discuss with your learning partner or a colleague at school how you would approach this dilemma, including how you might consult with others, what information you would need, and how you would ensure transparency and fairness in your decision-making.

Step 4: Document your analysis and proposed approach in the online forum for peer feedback and discussion.

Jubilee Hut Tramp

On the 5th and 6th of March, I led a group into Jubilee Hut, which is in the middle of the Silver Peaks. It was a trip that I knew the kids would love, and I thought, 'How hard can it be?'

Many things went well on the tramp, including the resilience that the children showed throughout the tramp, the bonding that we had as a group, and getting to know the children who came with us from Purakaunui school. 

We started off with Pete and Jody leading the charge, but it soon became clear that they were too fast at the front, so we switched so that I was at the front of the group. We made several stops and realised that this was, in fact, going to be harder than I initially thought. 

We were getting lots of breaks for the group to catch up, but it became apparent that the girls from  Purakaunui were not as prepared as the Waitati children. (Change number one: Gather all tamariki that are going on the trip with their gear a week before the trip so that can make sure that they have a correct gear, especially rain gear, suitable tents etc) Their packs were also too big for them and they struggled to carry them. 

As we walked into Jubilee hut the views were stunning and the children loved to see them and appreciated that they were in such a stunning place. 

We approached the start of Huatea and this was when the terrain was beginning to get harder. (Change number two - Do a recky so that I can see what the terrain is like) 

We got to the top of Huatea and sat there for a while, looking at our next part of the trip, down hill to the devils staircase. 

What went well

What are the challenges

What could I change for next time?

Math PD -

 Day 1 - 21 March 2025

Making it more consistent for teachers across the country. 

A wide variety of achievements and progress, methods, and teaching varied. 

Liking math and being good at math are linked to greater success. Teachers not feeling confident teaching math. 

Teachers know exactly what they need to teach. 

The Refresh process - 

Got together and revised, and there is continuous feedback from the sector and lots of drafts to ensure that teachers and students gain success.

Books: 

- Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics (little pink book)

- Making it count - teaching maths in years 1-3. 

- Accelerating learning in oral language, reading, writing and mathematics

The learning matters:

The strands must be taught equally. 

Spending time to share students' thinking, they need the opportunity to share how they used that specifi.c 

Always fold back to the materials and then manipulate and talk about it. They need to visualize before they can move forward. Pattern and structure play a big part in maths. They want to apply their learned strategy through rich tasks and word problems. 

When we give them a word problem, we need to unpack it more for the children so that we can identify the language and structure of the problem. Spending time on the launch is really important. 

Our learners are struggling to understand word problems. They get stuck as they get older, and this starts early with creating word problems so that they can understand and unpack them. 

Another way to look at the overview

What is conceptual understanding? It's connecting related ideas, representing concepts in different ways, identifying commonalities and differences, communicating things, and interpreting information.

using assessment to inform teaching

Continuously monitor students' progress - observations, conversations, and low-stakes testing.

Planning the next steps

Using the assessment information promptly - identify the misconception immediately and get them to share their learning. 

They can then go home and share with their parents what we are doing and where we are heading. 

Create a concept map—what are we learning along the way? Put it on the wall, and then they can use the wall to help them work through the problem. Support the learners along the way.

Planning:

Teaching and learning plans, 

Program richness - thought being put into the work and how it supports them to make that progress>

Using assessment information to guide and support them. 

Put the vocabulary wall/sheet so that they can have a deep, rich conversation with their peers, which will deepen their learning. 

Teaching Resources - 

Features of the sequence - 

We need to connect our learners to these sequence statements multiple times throughout the year. We need to get into applying through the strand; they need equal opportunity. 

Need to change the thinking around the long-term plans, 

Rich Tasks - 

Rich tasks are meaningful problem-solving and investigation experiences, designed to invoke curiosity and engagement. They should relate both to mathematical contexts and wider contexts relevant to the communities, cultures, interests, and aspirations of students. Rich tasks provide a motivational hook when exploring new concepts and procedures. They can also be used to consolidate concepts and procedures that have already been taught, to develop the mathematical and statistical processeses of Do, and to facilitate the transfer and application of learning to new situations. These experiences often allow students to decide how to approach the task, developing their agency, confidence, and motivation. Teachers design rich tasks that are accessible to all students and offer different levels of challenge. They ensure that students are clear about the purpose of learning, and they consider the core requirements of the task as well as the range of possible responses. As students work on rich tasks, teachers plan opportunities for discussion, collaboration, and feedback. They are actively involved in monitoring, prompting, and questioning during the task, to encourage students to ask questions, test conjectures, make generalisations, and form connections. 

These are contexts that are relevant to our community, which are a motivational hook to explore or proving concepts and procedures. 

Example of rich tasks at phase 2:

Plan to explore rich mathematical and statistical situations and contextual tasks that are useful and meaningful to the class or community. 

› Design tasks that use different contexts or combinations of operations to encourage students to apply their reasoning and knowledge to other types of problems (e.g., using decimals in measurement situations). 

› Encourage students to generalise by using questions such as “If I change this, what happens to that?” and “Is there another way to show this?” 

› Teach problem-solving and investigation strategies. Support students to read and make sense of a problem – through drawing, using materials, or trying some numbers – and then to identify relevant knowledge, plan how to solve the problem in a sequence of steps, take action to apply their plan (recording calculations with meaningful explanations), and check their findings. 

› Give students opportunities to notice and wonder about patterns, structures, and relationships and make statements about them.

Example of rich tasks at phase 3:

› Design investigations where students experience rich mathematical situations, as well as investigations where students use their findings to make decisions in their lives (e.g., making a savings plan). When planning an investigation, help students to identify appropriate questions, as well as the mathematical and statistical concepts, procedures, and representations they will need. 

› Design tasks that have multiple entry and exit points and more than one solution or pathway. 

› Teach problem-solving and investigation strategies such as:

– making sense of the problem by drawing a diagram or considering previously solved problems to identify strategies that can be reapplied

– trying some sequential numbers, recording the results in a table, and looking for patterns– identifying key information in the problem and connecting it to prior knowledge

– translating a word problem into a linear equation, to solve for an unknown quantity– recording calculations in an organised way, using correct mathematical notation 

– checking the reasonableness of findings.

An example of a teaching time:

How would you define accelerated learning?

Acceleration: students are able to learn concepts and procedures more rapidly than expected. 

Enablers and extenders

Enablers: strategies to reduce barriers and allow students to engage successfully. Examples: Scaffolded entry points break down complex concepts into smaller steps, visual aides, and strategic prompts that guide students into engaging in the tasks. 

Extenders and enrichment: Strategies used to deepen understanding. Example: add complexity to problems, apply learned concepts to new learning. 

NZEI training day

There are 8 pou that uphold the NZEI structure. 

They include the pou in all of the interactions with the worksites. It the way of demostrating and walking the walk of the organisation. 

Can always get back to the coassemble modules 

“Kotahi ano te kohao o te ngira

E kuhu ai te miro whero, te miro ma, te miro pango

A muri i a au kia mau ki te aroha, ki te whakapono ki te ture

Hei aha te aha! hei aha te aha!”

(King Potatau Te Wherowhero )

There is but one of the needle through which red, white and black thread must pass through.

Hold fast to Love, hold fast to the Faith, hold fast to the Law

Nothing else matters! Nothing else matters!

Module One Growth Culture

Section 1: Exploring Self-Awareness

How do I show up authentically?

Taking of the Armour and showing up authentically - Brené Brown

Am I to self conscious? How can I become more aware of myself?

I need to be honest with others and help them connect with me on a more personal level, I need to be open to being vulnerable, to listen to others to help me understand their points of view. 

I need to take off the armour that I have built to be able to show up authenically to my colleagues, so that they can see that I am the same as them. 

Do I need to reconsider how others see me? Take the time and let them be honest with me, without advice giving and just to listen. 

For me shame makes me feeling triggered, shame has been one of the emtions that throughout my life has led me to put my armour and walls back up, when I thing that I have unintentionally hurt someone, or said something wrong, the shame emotion in me comes out strong, I feel like I didn't do my best or live to my full potential, how can I use this to move through the emotion of shame?

Is courage the willing to show up and been seen, even though we can't control the outcome, can we teach and develop in ourselves or others?

You can teach courage, you can develop it in yourself and others. There are four pillars of courage

- Vulnerability

The willingness to be vulnerable, this is not weakness. Vulnerability is risk, uncertainty, emotional exposure. This opens us up to us being hurt, it's the shame, scarcity, fear, anxiety and uncertainty. It's the armour that you put on each day, I'm not going to let people see me, hurt me. Without Vulnerability there is no love and joy. What is the hardest emotion for humans? Joy.

When things are going really well, am I waiting for something to go wrong. 

- Clarity of values

- Trust

- Rising skills - getting back up when we fall and when we experience set backs and failures. 

If you are brave enough often enough then you will fall. If you are brave then you are going to get hurt. 

Shame is happening all around us.

Taking the armour off

The armour keeps be present, keeps us emotionally safe. 

What does this mean for my leadership? How to I show up to school authentically?

My armour goes up, I think that I must be the knower of all things, be able to take on any task and help others around me. I feel like I must be that person that everyone wants me to be and be perfect each and every time that I am in that environment. I must not faulter or be seen as weak, because those around me are relying on me to perform that tasks that I need to do, be that person who can solve all the issues, but also be that support person for them. The one that listens to their war stories, helps them through the day, keep them strong in who they are. I must be the one that does not faulter, the stable one who knows how to answer all the questions that they have, the one that can't take a sick day or time for myself, because I am the rock, the unwavering person, who can help all those around them, even at the detriment of my own well-being. 

When I have to take my armour off and show up authentically, I will be able to make mistakes, admit that I am wrong, that I don't know the answers. I have to let people see that I am not perfect, that I do make mistakes and that I am real. 

I want to be a leader who walks alongside the team, allowing them to share their thoughts, ideas and strategies, so create a positive environment so that they can talk to me, without me getting defensive, I want to be open to the feedback, weather good or critical, take it in, and make the changes that I need to make. I want people to know that they can come to me if they have a problem, with something or with me, to be able share in a safe way. I want to show them that I am vulnerable and that I am letting my armour come off, even if it makes me feel shame. I can raise again so that I can be brave and courageous the next time I fall or fail. 

Section 2: Developing Emotional Intelligence

Podcast

You need to develop your social-emotional learning as a school leader and practice incorporating emotions and how to coach others to help sustain the field of education.

Adults who are happy going to work means a more productive environment for the kids. 

It is a critical skill for leaders to thrive in their work. It has positive effects on the entire school. 

EI - is being smart about your feelings. So using your thinking to inform your feelings, using your feelings to inform your thinking, and all the while keeping in mind where you're going with it. When you can name then and ID them then you are in control of them. 

You need to be aware of the impact that you are having on others when they walk in the door in the morning. How do they manage their emotions, become aware that you are having emotions that you need to manage in the first place. It's the small moments and the big moments. 

If you aren't aware or working on your own emtions, how are you going to be able to deal with those of others? How are you going to make the appropriate decisions, ones that come from a deep place of swelf-awareness, being present and attuned to others around you. 

What are the emotions that leaders invite themselves to have by just walking into that position? Sometimes we are dealing with so much, and your emotions maybe more intense. There is never a time where leaders are not dealing with some sort of emotion, because we aren't seeing what they are dealing with behind the scenes, when they aren't in the classroom, it's whats happening for them on the email, phone calls and hui. 

How can leaders tap into and develop recognition of their emotional state? 

Do they believe that emotions matter and is this having am impact on those around us? If they do, are they motivated to develop these skills? 

Emotions are going to come back to bite you if you are not dealing with them. It takes a bite out of well-being when  you are in a state of emotional labour. The more we deal with them and work with them, makes us more effective in life. 

We have to look at our inner space, not just our day-to-day outer space, not many people want to go there. It's a matter of discipline and making sure that you do this daily or many times a day. It's surprising when people start to check in on themselves, the more you do it the more intune you become with yourself. Explore how you are feeling and why you are feeling that way, and do it with safe people. 

We are doing well teaching this to the children, but as adults we don't tend to do this. It's about working and developing our own skills to help the others around us. Unless we are practicing we can't make the most of our own emotional intelligence. Find out what works and what doesn't work, do I need to make changes? 

Need to take the knowledge and learning from the coach, we need to experiment with how we deal with emotions.

The more authentic you are as a leader, you are more able to move forward with the agenda that you have. It's about having trust in the leader. It's about the psychological safe and leaders like that can ask people to dream with them. It's about shifting the entire culture in a positive directions, towards that psychological safety.

We need to walk into school each day as our 'best self' putting other things that worry us behind us. 

Social awareness is about empathy, but as a leader you need to have the hand on the door knob moment, to pause and bring to mind who I want to be that day. I need to learn to control my big emotion and be aware of them and deal with that later. 

Section 3: Identifying strengths and areas for development

Self-review can take many forms and be carried out in a number of ways, but the underlying principles of effective self-review require it to be:

- Purposeful – leading to action for improvement

- Meaningful – not reviewing for reviewing’s sake

- Manageable – realistic in terms of time and human and financial resources

- Systematic – programmed so it doesn’t get overlooked

- Reliable – based on relevant and valid evidence

- Collaborative – involving key stakeholders

7 habits of highly effective people

Recently, Tara sent Mikaela and me to go on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Leadership course. 

This was held in Christchurch and was a two-day event. Needless to say, I was nervous going into it as I wasn't entirely sure what this would be about, even though I had sent out a 360 to the team.

Walking in, it was clear that this was a small group of teachers, most of who were principals. I sat down to wait. The first day was about intrinsic things, character, roots of the tree stuff. Who we are and what makes us up. Very confronting, even for someone who has been working on their inner self for many years. 

Needing to honest with yourself and try and pull out all of those things that make you tick is quite hard, but oh so worth it. 

So let's start with the start:

These are the 7 habits. 

Working from dependence to independence, and then to interdependence through the private victory (mastery of one's self), or who you are, through the public victory(effective relationships with others), the way you hold yourself.

Now a little summary of each Habit, but first, the see, do, get model:

This is the key model that flows through all of the habits. 

See  - our paradigms or how we see the world.

Do - our practices and habits are formed.

Get - results, or what you get.

Results show an ineffective paradigm. 

What do I mean by paradigm? It's the way we see, understand, and interpret the world - our mental map. 

So the question is, what are the essential paradigms in my life and how can I support them? That is truly a question I am still trying to figure out. I know that there are things that I believe in, but it will take a while to work through the habits for me to secure the paradigms that are the most important to me. 

 15th August 2024

Stephen R. Covey - 7 habits of highly effective people - Good book

BSLA - PD day Waikouaiti School

 BSLA PD - Waikouaiti School

NE/Year 1 class - Louise

Start of the day - Whole class

Start the day with the read-aloud - The Paper Bag Princess

A special word on the page, 'expensive.' 

Tell them one thing that you remember from the story. Keeping the book open for the children to look at. 

Move from the read-aloud to the new sound, ensuring the student has the correct mouth formation. Then, move on to the words, focusing on where the sound is. 

From the new sound move into word chains, they were writing on a whiteboard, but I think that having them in a book would be more helpful for the children, maybe like a book that they can use as a dictionary so that they can revisit them when they are writing and reading.

They read the 'th' book from word chains in a clear file so that the children could underline the 'th' sound. 

- I could copy the book onto A3, then laminate and bind so they can be reused. 

All up, the whole class lesson was 50 minutes long. 

Small group lesson

Start with the small tiles, 

Give the children their own letter folder, with all the letters inside but the ones they need on the form.

Go through the words and get the children to make them.

This is also a crucial part of orthographic mapping; as the teacher, you make it with the wooden tiles, so help the children see what they are doing. Hence, the scaffolding of this task.

When reading the book, you tell them the words that you need to 'just remember'.